


Cleanly

by RottenMint



Series: Paternal Instincts [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood, Family Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Grooming, dads of marmora, it's literally a sentence, keith/shiro is briefly mentioned, minor injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-18 03:16:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11282667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RottenMint/pseuds/RottenMint
Summary: After a hard battle, all Keith wants is to rest. Ulaz has other plans.





	Cleanly

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, I'm still surprised this series is going strong! I'm getting a lot of wonderful feedback, so thanks to everyone for the comments and the kudos. 
> 
> As always, sorry for any mistakes, and constructive criticism is always appreciated.

“You're sure you don't want to use the pod? You’ll be out and good as new in a few ticks.” Allura’s fingers are gentle on Keith’s cheeks. She turns his head again, frowning in distaste at the gash on his temple. It stopped bleeding minutes ago, but the bloody smears down the side of his face and into his hair make it appear more serious.

“I'm fine, Allura, it's not a big deal.” Keith assures again, standing from his seat. She doesn't look convinced, and neither do the four Galra standing off to the side.

Somehow, during their most recent battle, Keith’s helmet got knocked clean off. He continued to fight, not even registering it to be gone. Then a Galra soldier Keith disarmed got a clean swipe at his face.

The Galra’s palm slammed into his nose and left eye, one claw cutting neatly into his hairline, and dazing him. Keith knows that if Thace hadn’t been fighting close to him, he would be dead. Hunk carried Keith back to the red lion bridal-style, refusing to let the him walk until they knew he didn't have any serious head trauma.

_“You won't let me walk, but you’ll let me pilot red?” Keith joked. Hunk gave a strained laugh._

_“Red can pilot herself and you know it. She probably won't even let you once she finds out what state you're in.”_

Keith didn't believe him.

His pride stung when Hunk’s guess turned out to be correct.

“Let him go, Princess. We already did the tests for a concussion, and it doesn't look bad enough to need stitches. Everything else is light bruising, nothing serious. He needs to take it easy, get some rest. That's all.” Keith sends Shiro a grateful look.

Allura purses her lips, looking to the healing pod once more. “If you're sure.”

“Oh, Keith will be fine, he’s got a thick skull- ow! Pidge!” Lance whines, rubbing his arm. Shiro raises his eyebrows at Pidge, and she shrugs.

“Do all humans have thick skulls? Is it to help prevent brain trauma?” Coran inquires, and Hunk gives a loud sigh.

“No, Coran, Lance is just…” Shiro turns to Allura.

“He’ll be fine. I’ll check on him later.” She nods, her focus on Keith as he stumbles out of the room.

“I suppose that’s all I can ask for.”

:::

Keith sags in relief when he reaches the door of his room. Even after all his time as a Paladin, he’s still not used to having so many people worry about him at once. The recent addition of four Galra, especially four who seem bound and determined to parent him, isn’t helping.

It's emotionally and mentally exhausting, and on top of physical exhaustion as well, all Keith wants is some time for himself. Or time alone with Shiro.

“You must be very out of it if you didn't notice I followed you.” Keith jumps, turning around to face Ulaz, who stands in the doorway of his room. Ulaz’s eyes are obviously drawn to the blood still staining his face, and his expression is oddly soft. Keith scowls.

“I’m fine.” Ulaz shakes his head, placing his hands on Keith’s shoulders and moving him towards the bed.

“Sit,” Ulaz instructs, taking his own place behind Keith. Though he’d never admit it, Keith sinks back into the warmth of Ulaz’s chest, his head lolling forwards. Ulaz makes a ‘tsk’ sound, one hand coming up under Keith’s jaw and tilting it upwards. Keith is too tired to protest.

His eyelids begin to droop, when something wet and hot slides along his temple. Keith yelps, jerking forwards and nearly falling from the bed. Ulaz’s arm, tight around his middle, is the only thing keeping him from landing on the floor.

“Careful, Keith. You may not have needed to rest in the pod, but you still need to watch your injuries.”

“Did you... Lick me?” Keith demands, incredulous, and attempts to pull himself from Ulaz’s grasp.

“Stop moving.” Ulaz scolds. Keith stills, grumbling.

“To groom a kit is perfectly normal. Especially a minor injury such as this, our saliva helps to speed recovery.”

Keith blinks, taking a moment to register the information. He knows he should tell Ulaz that on earth, licking someone is almost always classified as disgusting. Some baser part of him, however, relaxes as Ulaz begins to clean him once more. The steady, constant, press-slide-pull away of his tongue puts Keith in a near trance. It's more soothing than it should be.

They sit in silence as Ulaz goes about his business. His tongue reminds Keith of a cat’s, though more rough. It’s definitely made for grooming, but appears to be better suited for removing things that would get stuck in fur, as Keith can feel the dried clumps of blood coming off his skin and hair easily.

“You said it’s normal to groom a kit,” Keith begins, tentative, “but I'm not a kit. Antok called me that too, when we were training. I don’t even know what it means.” Ulaz chuckles, his lips against Keith’s hair as he speaks.

“It is the term for a Galran child, and as far as I and the other Blades are concerned, you are a kit. Until I am able to figure out how your human years correspond to Galran years, we will consider you as such,” he pauses, “and from what Shiro told us, you would still be considered a human kit, wouldn't you?”

Keith flounders for a response. His brain and body are exhausted, and the only thought that crosses his mind is _Shiro you traitor_.

“That's what I thought.” Ulaz continues his grooming, and Keith's eyes slide shut.

Ulaz laps up the last of the blood and pulls back. Giving the cut- which is already scabbing over- a last look, he nods in satisfaction. He’s about to leave so Keith can rest, when he notices Keith’s breathing is steady and calm. Realizes he’s gone still and limp. Ulaz can’t stop the rush of affection he feels, and makes himself comfortable. He gets the feeling he’ll be there for a while. 

:::

That’s how Shiro finds them later.

Ulaz looks up at the sound of the door sliding open, offering a small smile when he sees Shiro. Shiro smiles back, gaze drifting to Keith before it goes back to Ulaz.

Ulaz lifts a finger to his lips, and Shiro backs quietly out of the room. No one else comes to see them before Keith wakes up.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I think Galra tongues would be closer in nature to the tongue of a lion as opposed to the tongue of a cat. Lion's tongues are made for removing dirt as well as chunks of meat and bones from their fur, and have the texture of sandpaper instead of being slightly rough like a house cat's. 
> 
> So yeah. 
> 
> Galra have lion tongues. Don't let them lick you. I don't know if you've ever had sandpaper rubbed against your skin, but for those who haven't, it's pretty awful. 
> 
> (Unless you're Keith, apparently)


End file.
